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Ardian buys out Ascendi’s Portuguese toll road operations

French infrastructure fund manager Ardian has agreed to acquire all the shares of Ascendi PT II which operates seven Portuguese motorway concessions Ardian, an independent private investment company, is buying the shares from its joint venture partner Ascndi Group. Ascendi PT II was formed in June 2015 as a partnership between Ardian Infrastructure and Ascendi and owns and operates five motorways in northern Portugal and the Lisbon area. Ardian Infrastructure will pay €600 million for control of the
August 9, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
French infrastructure fund manager Ardian has agreed to acquire all the shares of 2769 Ascendi PT II which operates seven Portuguese motorway concessions

Ardian, an independent private investment company, is buying the shares from its joint venture partner Ascndi Group. Ascendi PT II was formed in June 2015 as a partnership between Ardian Infrastructure and Ascendi and owns and operates five motorways in northern Portugal and the Lisbon area.
 
Ardian Infrastructure will pay €600 million for control of the five jointly held assets, as well as two additional toll roads from Ascendi. Ardian will also acquire the operational and maintenance companies associated with the motorways.

The Ascendi network is the second largest motorway network in Portugal, stretching more than 850km  across the seven toll roads, which employ 500 people. These roads include Ascendi Norte – Auto-Estradas do Norte; Ascendi Beiras Litoral e Alta - Auto-Estradas das Beiras Litoral e Alta; Ascendi Costa de Prata – Auto-Estradas da Costa de Prata; Ascendi Grande Porto – Auto-Estradas do Grande Porto; Ascendi Grande Lisboa, Auto-Estradas de Grande Lisboa; Ascendi Pinhal Interior - Estradas do Pinhal Interior; Ascendi Douro –  Estradas do Douro Interior; and Autovia de Los Viñedos, Sociedad  Anonima  Concesionaria De  La Junta De Comunidades De Castilla – La Mancha

The agreement is subject to some operations of corporate reorganization at Ascendi Group level, as well as regulatory and contractual approvals.

“We initially invested alongside Ascendi and worked with them closely over the past year,” said Mathias Burghardt, head of infrastructure at Ardian. “It’s a testament to this relationship and  Ardian’s long -term  investment strategy based on industrial expertise that  we have now been offered to take the operating control of the network.”

Ardian, founded in 1996 and led by Dominique Senequier, is an independent private investment company with assets of nearly €$50 billion managed or advised in Europe, northern America and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees.

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